Biloxi Church Was Beacon of Hope During Storm, and Feeding People After Katrina

The Rev. Kenneth Haynes knelt in prayer in the baptismal pool inside Main St. Missionary Baptist Church as Hurricane Katrina started to rip apart the roof.

More than 120 members of his congregation who had come to the church for shelter huddled nearby in a multipurpose room on the second floor. The first story of the church already was filled with water and Haynes worried the building might collapse.

Talking about that day five years later, Haynes said God told him, “Stand on your faith, not on your fear.”

The church withstood the storm and has remained a rock for this community as the east Biloxi neighborhood has struggled to recover from the storm.It took weeks for the federal government to organize its recovery plan in east Biloxi, but Haynes said Main Street began immediately, serving three meals a day to survivors in the neighborhood.